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I've been to Dallas a lot as I have in-laws in Frisco, Irving, and Arlington. Previous posters have done a great job commenting. I will say, in the grand scheme of things, your lifestyle in the burbs of Dallas is going to be very similar to your lifestyle in the burbs of Atlanta. It's not like you are comparing San Fran vs Topeka here.
From what I see, Atlanta gets more transplants from the north, while Dallas gets more from the west coast.
Dallas does have much better tex-mex though Even their chains like Torchy's Tacos are terrific.
I was just thinking about Dallas, especially in light of the recent weather events and power outages going on there and nearby. 8 degrees Fahrenheit now in Dallas vs 44 in Atlanta.
Are the Appalachian Mountains protecting Atlanta somehow?
This is interesting. I have only been to Texas once, so I'm enjoying reading about the differences. Any comment on how much history plays a role in the city's functioning today? How is diversity, what different groups live out there vs. ATL and which city is more integrated? Is there a "Dallas accent" like there is an Atlanta accent?
Both places have a history of racism and segregation and are still segregated on a macro scale. Just like Atlanta has I-20 acting like a bit of a boundary line with wealthy white residents to the north, Dallas has I-30 acting a bit like a dividing line right at downtown. The area south of downtown Dallas has historically been poorer while the wealthy white residents lived to the north. Uptown Dallas is kinda like Atlanta's midtown. Highland Park and the other areas to the north are kinda like the residential side of Buckhead here in Atlanta. Tons of old money, multi million dollar homes, homes of wealthy pro athletes, etc. Suburban development is kinda similar in that the northern Atlanta burbs really took off. I don't wanna get into the northside v southside debate because there are plenty of good areas on the southside and I don't want it to seem like I'm not respecting them, but they generally aren't as well known or as popular.
But, in Dallas, it's like that to an extreme. Metro Atlanta still has a healthy southside even if development is more focused north of I-20. In Dallas the southside has barely developed it seems. If you take I-45 south of downtown you get out to the boonies in a hurry. Even I-35 and US-67 loses suburbia pretty quickly compared to 75 and 85 here. And there isn't really anything that compares to say Fayette County.
One big difference (and this is true across Texas) is that you also have intown areas with large hispanic populations. Here in Atlanta it seems like old intown neighborhoods were historically black or historically white. Hispanic populations seem to have moved to suburban areas like up Buford Hwy corridor into Gwinnett. In Dallas (and you can see this on the racial dot map) you also have intown areas that are majority hispanic. There's no denying the influence black communities have had on the culture of Atlanta as a whole. For Dallas (and Texas) you still have had that influence, but you also have a (mostly Mexican) hispanic influence. Tex-Mex is a big example but also non-hispanic people in general just seem to know more in Dallas than here in Atlanta. More Spanish words and phrases, more knowledgable about food, more friendships across hispanic/non-hispanic lines, etc.
I haven't been on the ground enough in Dallas to know which city is more integrated than the other in the 21st century. But I think they're pretty similar. Areas near downtown are becoming more diverse. Lot of your similar small neighborhoods with bars and local restaurants that are walkable. I don't know the direct comparisons but just like Atlanta has places like O4W, L5P, Va-Hi, etc, Dallas has places like Deep Ellum, Lower Greenville and other areas I'm not as familiar with.
With the suburbs I think it's pretty similar except maybe leaning more hispanic across the board in Dallas and lean more black across the board in Atlanta with some exceptions in both places.
I was just thinking about Dallas, especially in light of the recent weather events and power outages going on there and nearby. 8 degrees Fahrenheit now in Dallas vs 44 in Atlanta.
Are the Appalachian Mountains protecting Atlanta somehow?
You got it!
You hit the nail right on the head with that statement (in bold).
The Appalachian Mountains often (though definitely not always) can be just barely high enough to block and/or at least deflect the worst of the Arctic cold/polar air masses that come down from the north during the winter months.
The close proximity of the Blue Ridge/Southern Appalachian mountains to Atlanta very likely may be a major reason why Atlanta has a current temperature of 44 degrees, while the “Texas Triangle,” almost all of which is located farther south than Atlanta, has much colder, frigid current temperatures ranging from 9 degrees in Dallas to 13 degrees in Austin, 15 degrees in San Antonio and 17 degrees in Houston.
While being located farther south than Atlanta, the ‘Texas Triangle’ does not have any nearby type of raised mountainous topography to at least deflect the worst of the severe Arctic cold polar air masses that sometimes can come down out of the north like Atlanta seems to have with the relatively very nearby Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains.
... So I guess that this is an example of yet another reason why the Appalachian Mountains have been and continue to be so incredibly beneficial to Atlanta’s existence?
You hit the nail right on the head with that statement (in bold).
The Appalachian Mountains often (though definitely not always) can be just barely high enough to block and/or at least deflect the worst of the Arctic cold/polar air masses that come down from the north during the winter months.
The close proximity of the Blue Ridge/Southern Appalachian mountains to Atlanta very likely may be a major reason why Atlanta has a current temperature of 44 degrees, while the “Texas Triangle,” almost all of which is located farther south than Atlanta, has much colder, frigid current temperatures ranging from 9 degrees in Dallas to 13 degrees in Austin, 15 degrees in San Antonio and 17 degrees in Houston.
While being located farther south than Atlanta, the ‘Texas Triangle’ does not have any nearby type of raised mountainous topography to at least deflect the worst of the severe Arctic cold polar air masses that sometimes can come down out of the north like Atlanta seems to have with the relatively very nearby Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains.
... So I guess that this is an example of yet another reason why the Appalachian Mountains have been and continue to be so incredibly beneficial to Atlanta’s existence?
I've been to Dallas a lot as I have in-laws in Frisco, Irving, and Arlington. Previous posters have done a great job commenting. I will say, in the grand scheme of things, your lifestyle in the burbs of Dallas is going to be very similar to your lifestyle in the burbs of Atlanta. It's not like you are comparing San Fran vs Topeka here.
From what I see, Atlanta gets more transplants from the north, while Dallas gets more from the west coast.
Dallas does have much better tex-mex though Even their chains like Torchy's Tacos are terrific.
That is an excellent point and a very true statement that one’s lifestyle in the suburbs of Dallas is likely to be very similar to one’s lifestyle in the suburbs of Atlanta.
One can enjoy a very good lifestyle in the suburbs of both Dallas and Atlanta, particularly in both cities’ highly affluent northern suburbs.
Though one very important and very key difference between living in the suburbs of Dallas and the suburbs of Atlanta, particularly when it comes to both cities’ affluent northern suburbs, is that many (if not most) areas in Atlanta’s northern suburbs are only minutes away from the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian mountains chain.
For example, the highly affluent Atlanta Northside suburb of Alpharetta is located only about 45 miles/1 hour away from the Amicalola Falls area (the site of what is reported to the highest waterfall in the U.S. east of the Rockies) where the Blue Ridge Mountains begin on the southern end.
This is something that sounds like a very important distinction between the suburbs of Dallas and the suburbs of Atlanta for someone like the OP that has a stated preference for outdoor recreational activities like biking trails and kayaking, which the Blue Ridge foothills and mountains region will provide numerous opportunities to participate in.
Atlanta’s hilly to low-mountainous Northside terrain also provides robust recreational opportunities closer to the city in closer-in suburban areas like:
> The Chattahoochee River Valley through Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties in suburban North metro Atlanta
> Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Cobb County in Northwest metro Atlanta
> Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, Douglas County, West metro Atlanta just south off of I-20
> Red Top Mountain State Park and Lake Allatoona in Northwest metro Atlanta
> The famous Stone Mountain Park in DeKalb County in East metro Atlanta
> Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area in DeKalb County in Southeast metro Atlanta
> Panola Mountain State Park in Rockdale County in Southeast metro Atlanta.
That’s in addition to aforementioned outdoor recreational biking paths like the Silver Comet Trail in outer-suburban and exurban West metro Atlanta, the Big Creek Trail in outer-suburban North metro Atlanta (North Fulton and Forsyth counties) and the burgeoning Atlanta Beltline in Intown Atlanta.
Not to mention the relatively nearby presence of such outdoor recreational gems as the Chattahoochee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, the Nanathala National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern North Carolina, and the hugely popular and adored Great Smoky Mountains National Park (an area that is home to about a dozen of the highest mountain peaks on the East Coast) on the border between western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
The suburbs of Dallas and Atlanta have some notable lifestyle similarities, but the outdoor recreational opportunities in suburban Atlanta appear to be on a completely different level than Dallas, which obviously is a great town in its own right.
The nearby presence of the Blue Ridge/Appalachian mountains region is something that sets Atlanta apart from many other metro areas east of the Rockies when it comes to scenery and outdoor recreational opportunities.
Even though they may not always get enough credit for the positive effects that they have on Atlanta, the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains have a noticeably moderating effect on Atlanta’s weather.
Atlanta’s relatively higher elevation (at about 1,000 feet above sea level) when compared to many areas east of the Rockies often (though definitely not always) deflects much of the most severe heat and humidity that more directly affects many areas with lower elevations across the greater American South.
While the presence of the Appalachian Mountains to the north of the city can often (though not always) help to deflect the worst of the severe Arctic cold away from Atlanta, as we are currently witnessing right now with Atlanta currently experiencing air temperatures in the mid-40’s while the ‘Texas Triangle’ (which is farther south than Atlanta) currently experiences air temperatures in the single digits and teens.
This is one of those instances where the Appalachian Mountains appears to be having a very noticeable and undeniable moderating effect on Atlanta’s weather.
You hit the nail right on the head with that statement (in bold).
The Appalachian Mountains often (though definitely not always) can be just barely high enough to block and/or at least deflect the worst of the Arctic cold/polar air masses that come down from the north during the winter months.
The close proximity of the Blue Ridge/Southern Appalachian mountains to Atlanta very likely may be a major reason why Atlanta has a current temperature of 44 degrees, while the “Texas Triangle,” almost all of which is located farther south than Atlanta, has much colder, frigid current temperatures ranging from 9 degrees in Dallas to 13 degrees in Austin, 15 degrees in San Antonio and 17 degrees in Houston.
While being located farther south than Atlanta, the ‘Texas Triangle’ does not have any nearby type of raised mountainous topography to at least deflect the worst of the severe Arctic cold polar air masses that sometimes can come down out of the north like Atlanta seems to have with the relatively very nearby Blue Ridge/Appalachian Mountains.
... So I guess that this is an example of yet another reason why the Appalachian Mountains have been and continue to be so incredibly beneficial to Atlanta’s existence?
Off topic but we touched 0 in Austin and are undergoing rolling power outages due to frozen windmills and natural gas plants. This is very unnatural weather even for Texas and hasn’t gotten this bad since the 80’s. On a side note, everything out here looks like it’s made of glass and crystals, beautiful but it’s another level of sinful cold than the average Texas winter. The stuff that should only happen in Minneapolis.
I’m unsure about the mountains but from what I gather the polar vortex came from the North / Northwest, proceeded South / Southeast and then up North/NorthEast. I believe it was mostly the Gulf and Subtropical Jet Stream that pushed the air back North/Northeast
Georgia and Texas get snow and ice at about the same level unless considering the places of higher elevation such as the Panhandle.
On this list:
Dallas gets about 1.5” on average
Atlanta gets about 2.9” on average
Difference between Texas and Georgia is Texas in general has more extremities in weather, meaning one day you could be in a furnace and the next you could be in a cooler where Georgia’s weather is more predictable and stable.
Last edited by Need4Camaro; 02-15-2021 at 10:45 AM..
Native Minnesotan, now in Atlanta, with kids living in Austin and Dallas currently without power. Both locations get much hotter in the summer than Atlanta (say 105 in Texas and usually not over 95 in Atlanta). Much more scenic in Georgia with hills and trees than Dallas.
I prefer Atlanta over Dallas. Austin over Atlanta. They all beat New York! (where we moved from).
Native Minnesotan, now in Atlanta, with kids living in Austin and Dallas currently without power. Both locations get much hotter in the summer than Atlanta (say 105 in Texas and usually not over 95 in Atlanta). Much more scenic in Georgia with hills and trees than Dallas.
I prefer Atlanta over Dallas. Austin over Atlanta. They all beat New York! (where we moved from).
Austin over Atlanta?! nice! why?
Also, what part of NY?
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Even their chains like Torchy's Tacos are terrific.
